There’s nothing quite like a Sunday night where you’re serenaded by some truly beautiful performances, in the relaxing atmosphere of a venue like The Vanguard. This particular Sunday night in question featured the talents of Georgia Fields, Brian Campeau and Tara Simmons – three wonderful performers who gave me the sort of end to a weekend that everyone deserves.
Brisbane based Tara Simmons opened things up with a solo performance on the keyboards – and a brief appearance by Georgia Fields on the tambourine (accompanied by the audience as the rhythm section). The talented, charasmatic performer played a mix of tracks off her two albums, as well as material from her upcoming record. This included “Rosemary”, a track she wrote about a woman of the same name (and wants her to know it). At the other side of the spectrum, her set included a song that she doesn’t want the person it’s about to made aware of…
Judging by my commentary, you can probably tell Tara is well versed in the art of ‘banter’. Indeed, her set was filled with plenty of it, though the focus was on the music. Simplistic and heartfelt, Tara Simmons is a terribly talented performer, supported by an impressive catalogue of recorded music. Songs like “Everybody Loves You” and “Shake” were particular highlights of a brilliant start to the night.
Next, Canadian Born, Sydney Based talent Brian Campeau gave me one of those “how the hell is this guy not huge!?” moments. Nessled somewhere in the musical worlds of Iron and Wine, Fleet Foxes and Nick Drake with guitar skills reminiscent of Rodrigo y Gabriela (classically trained, he’s been playing guitar since he was 5 years old… and it shows) – while looking alarmingly like Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Brian Campeau is a true talent.
“Mary Jane” opened up his set, with some stupidly impressive guitar work, while songs like “Montreal” and “Questioning Authority” showcased his impressive songwriting skills. The latter was one of the more Fleet Foxes reminiscent tracks in the set, and was written when Canada was considering making Gay Marriage illegal. “Montreal”, meanwhile, about missing the cold of the city of the same name. Frequent collaborator Elana Stone joined Brian on stage to provide vocals for two tracks, including “Throwing Blame” – a highlight of the set.
Much like Tara, the banter was wholly enjoyable from start to finish – Brian is a hilarious man – but at the end of the day it was the music that proved the most impressive and enjoyable part of the set. And his ability to get the crowd involved was pretty damn impressive, too – “I never signed no paper for the devil”, a verse we all sang along to, was playing over and over in my head for the rest of the night. “Who Cares” closed things up for one of the most impressive live performances I’ve seen in some time.
How did I not know about this guy!?
Finally, Melbourne indie-pop chanteuse Georgia Fields arrived to close the night out, accompanied by a three piece string ensemble, performing tracks off her debut self-titled album. Sporting a blinding gold outfit, and armed with a ukulele, she kicked things off solo before inviting the rest of the band on, switching to an acoustic guitar. “This is Not a Drill” saw the megaphone added to the set, and she jumped onto the keys here and there.
Her hilarious cover of Ginuwine‘s “Pony” was probably the highlight of the night, and while it took a few tracks for Georgia and the crowd to connect, once everyone was comfortable with each other, she had us eating out of the palm of her hand. Tara Simmons returned the favour from earlier by joining on stage for some tambourine action (along with three others from the crowd, for “Snakes and Ladders”), and after being called back for an encore, she performed two tracks including “You Are My Favourite”. “Tupperware Container” was a particular standout of the set, and to sum the set up: it was simply damn good.
Entertaining banter and joyous music was the trend of the night, and there really wasn’t a dull moment in any of the three sets. A great way to end the weekend… just don’t remind me that Monday comes directly after Sunday… ugh.
